Hotel Palma Bellver by Melia

Unfortunately, our stay at this hotel was a very mixed experience and, overall, we wouldn’t consider it a 4-star hotel.

Our problems started from the moment we arrived. We didn’t arrive at the hotel until around 1:30am, and we were two women travelling on our own in another country. Our booking started from the Saturday and we arrived the early hours of Saturday morning, We asked the receptionist if there was any possibility of an early check-in as Booking.com who we booked through, were wanting £269 for a room for a few hours. We were happy to pay for the early check-in. We were told by the receptionist that the hotel was fully booked and that we should go to the hotel next door instead.

This was particularly frustrating as we could see that Booking.com was showing rooms available at the hotel. Rather than helping us find a safe and practical solution in the early hours of the morning, the receptionist simply led us to a sofa and told us we could sleep there.

Trying to sleep on a sofa in the hotel reception was practically impossible, especially with people returning from nights out and being very noisy. We were left feeling extremely vulnerable and disappointed that, as two women arriving alone at 1:30am, this was the best solution the hotel could offer us.

What made this even more frustrating was speaking to other guests afterwards who had arrived in the morning at a similar time to us. They told us that they had been offered early check-in, which made us question why we hadn’t been offered the same option, particularly when we had been willing to pay for it.

Thankfully, our experience changed completely when Alberto, a different receptionist, came in that morning. He was absolutely lovely, understanding and compassionate about our situation. He immediately offered us a courtesy room for 20 minutes so we could shower, and took our luggage so that we didn’t have to continue carrying it around while waiting for our room. He also allowed us to check in two hours early, because he understood what we had been through. We genuinely appreciated his kindness and professionalism.

We also spoke to a manager on our final day who was equally lovely. She listened to our concerns, apologised and offered us free food and drinks for the remainder of our final day. We appreciated the gesture and felt that she genuinely wanted to put things right. It was just disappointing that this level of care wasn’t shown when we first arrived.

Unfortunately, there were several other issues during our stay. Our room wasn’t particularly clean, with grit on the floor which meant we couldn’t comfortably walk around barefoot. At times there was also a very strong smell of sewage in our room, which was extremely unpleasant and made the room uncomfortable to be in. The rooms were ok, and we had a huge bathroom which was great!

The swimming pool is also much smaller than we expected for a hotel of this size. There wasn’t generally a problem getting a sunbed, although there was one isolated incident involving an English family and a Spanish woman. The woman had removed the towels belonging to one of the family’s sunbeds and, when the family returned, refused to move. This resulted in an argument between them. It appeared to be an isolated incident rather than a general problem with sunbeds, but it was certainly an uncomfortable situation to witness.

Separately, there was another completely unrelated incident at the hotel during our stay which resulted in the police being called. Obviously, the hotel cannot necessarily be held responsible for the behaviour of individual guests, but it was another unpleasant situation during our holiday.

There were certainly some positives. The hotel is in a fantastic position facing the Harbour so we had some lovely views. The walk into Palma was only 20-30 minutes and there were plenty or restaurants and shops. Would suggest booking restaurants the night before as we learnt on our first night, after we struggled to find a table anywhere. There are a few local supermarkets and plenty of shops and places to eat local to the hotel. I would say that the local shops are quite expensive compared to the supermarkets.

Personally I don’t think this hotel caters to children as the pool is very small and there aren’t any activities for children to do here. We found that the children that were here kept splashing everyone by the pool as there wasn’t a lot of room to swim. More of a pool for dipping in and out.

The WiFi was better than the service I have at home so couldn’t fault that at all.

Alberto was fantastic, and the manager we spoke to on our final day was also very understanding and professional. Their actions showed that the hotel is capable of providing good customer service when concerns are raised.

However, the way we were treated when we first arrived, particularly being two women alone in a foreign country at 1:30am and being shown to a sofa rather than being offered a practical solution, was extremely disappointing. Combined with the cleanliness issues, the sewage smell and the other problems during our stay, the overall experience fell well short of what we would expect from a 4-star hotel.

We paid for a holiday and expected a clean, comfortable and relaxing 4-star experience. Sadly, that’s not what we experienced.

We appreciate the efforts made by Alberto and the manager to put things right, but based on our overall stay, we wouldn’t choose to return and, in our opinion, this hotel falls short of a 4-star standard.

Unfortunately, our stay at this hotel was much more disappointing than we had expected, and in my opinion, it does not meet the standard I would associate with a luxury 4-star hotel. I would rate it closer to a 3-star experience.

The biggest issue occurred when we arrived at approximately 2am after travelling for several hours. We experienced a very difficult and upsetting check-in situation. We were told by the man at reception that we could not check into our room until 3pm. We were then told that we could book another room for the night for approximately £260. We checked Booking.com, where rooms appeared to be available, but when we went back to reception, we were then told that we could not book a room after we had just been told that this was an option.

The situation became even more disappointing when my mum and I were told that we could sleep on a sofa in the hotel bar area until check-in. That is where we ended up spending the night — sleeping on a sofa in the bar after travelling for hours. We were not offered a courtesy room, even for a short period, and there was very little understanding or consideration shown towards us. We were also not offered assistance with our luggage, meaning we had to sleep with our belongings beside us. This was, by far, the worst part of our stay and something I feel should never happen to guests, regardless of the circumstances.

Thankfully, on our final day we spoke with the manager, who was genuinely horrified and very understanding when we explained what had happened. She clearly recognised that the situation had been handled poorly by her staff and offered complimentary food and drinks, including breakfast, drinks at the bar and lunch, as compensation. We were extremely grateful for this gesture and appreciated her taking our concerns seriously.

Unfortunately, there were several other issues during our stay. The hotel itself felt somewhat dated and our room was not as clean as we expected. There was grit on the floor, the balcony was dirty, and there was mould in the shower , the room smelt terribly of sewage ,The pool is also quite small, and I would not consider this to be a particularly child-friendly hotel, as there appeared to be very little available for children to do.

We also had a courtesy room booked for 7:30PM, which unfortunately was in a completely unacceptable condition when we arrived. The bin was overflowing, with rubbish spilling onto the floor, and there was hair EVERYWHERE. The shower had hair left behind from previous guests, there were used plastic bottles and opened bottles scattered around the room, and dirty towels had simply been left out.

The floor was absolutely filthy and, quite frankly, barbaric. We were so disgusted by the condition of the room that we actually had to shower wearing flip-flops because we did not feel comfortable standing barefoot on the floor. That alone should give you an idea of just how unhygienic the room was.

I completely understand that this was a courtesy room and not our main accommodation, but surely guests using the room still deserve a basic level of cleanliness and consideration. Would the staff not think to at least tidy the room between guests, even if that simply meant emptying the bin, removing used bottles and towels, cleaning the shower and giving the floor a proper clean?

It was honestly horrific and completely unacceptable. A courtesy room should still be clean, hygienic and presentable, and unfortunately this one was none of those things

During our stay, there was also an unpleasant incident involving guests arguing over sunbeds, which became disruptive and could be heard around the hotel. On another evening, there were police vehicles outside the hotel, which added to the overall atmosphere and was not particularly reassuring.

That said, there were definitely some positives. The bar staff were lovely, friendly and attentive, and the service in both the bar and restaurant was generally very good. I would also like to mention the manager, who handled our complaint with genuine understanding and professionalism.

A special mention should also go to the gentleman on reception who I believe was called Alberto. Once we finally checked in and explained that my mum and I had spent the previous night sleeping on the sofa, he was incredibly helpful. Without hesitation, he arranged a courtesy room for us, helped with our luggage and was extremely kind and accommodating when we checked out. His attitude was completely different from the experience we had initially received, and he deserves recognition for his excellent customer service.

Overall, while there were staff members who were genuinely lovely and attentive, the negatives unfortunately outweighed the positives for us. The initial check-in experience was particularly unacceptable and left a lasting impression on what should have been an enjoyable holiday.

I appreciate the manager’s efforts to make amends and the kindness of the staff who looked after us afterwards, but based on our overall experience, I would not choose to stay at this hotel again and I would not consider it to be the luxury 4-star experience we were expecting.

Room/bathroom would benefit from upgrading. Firstly upon check in i found the female member of staff very unpleasant. I felt she was purposely awkward in delaying the check in to our room. She general demeanor and attitude would need worked on. When we finally got checked in of course she allocated us to the wrong room. Thankfully Ian dealth with us when we raised the issue and he moved us to the appropriate room.

During check out I disclosed we had consumed to items from the mini bar. I paid for these by cash to later receive a charge on my card for the same items. So I have paid twice for these items. Awaiting response from the hotel to resolve this matter. The location is ok if you don't mind walking into the centre. You can be there within ten minutes.

The pool area may appear untidy. The practice of reserving sun loungers, where towels are placed on unoccupied beds for residents who arrive several hours later, presents a challenge